WOW that's incredible work Tecknoviking! I'm a fairly lousy painter so I think there's definitely merit in this idea - plus it helps hide the knee/hip joints.

It Does make a difference But So time consuming Hand sewing HAHA

Currently just doing trousers first then onto Shirts.

Hate doing shirts more than trousers. Though I think it will be worth while.

Certainly different.

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What ya gonna do when I TECKNO HUG Youuuuu!!



Pvt.
STEAD,J "TECKNO VIKING"
A06/TQ1.0.22140E1

Skype: ulthur1

I love this too (as my painting skills also suck). Have you thought about just supergluing the pants on?
And are you going to do full shirts, or just the sleeves/bits that show under armour?

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Cpl Aron "septic" Williams
A10/TQ0.0.82146E1

My new fibre optics and micro LED lights arrived so I could now crack on with fitting out the seat restraint lighting for the rear-bay seating area.



The tub at the left side contains all the components to build up the seat restraints. There's styrene sheet pads, brass tube, styrene brackets, brass hinge pins, fibre optic strand for the lighting - all sorts of stuff.



These long, hollow white styrene tubes have 2 back-to-back micro LEDs fitted in the middle and the wiring feeds through the brass tube and out the back. Dealing with that wiring (each wire is approx 0.2mm thick) is and will be a pain. I found that the only way to strip the insulation off it is to burn it off with a lighter. I'm not looking forward to soldering it - might need a microscope. LOL.

I'm back after a very busy week at college and I've devoted some time to this build - enough to warrant an update.



Here I'm building the hinges that let the seating restraints pivot up and down.



The tiny wires that lead from the LEDs need soldering onto more robust wiring that will connect them to the interior wiring loom later on.



These are the components for the torso pads.



There's four all done! Next step is to add the torso pads.



Done, yay! I keep a grubby old pair of green plastic tweezers which are VERY handy for handling magnets - especially the ones I'll be adding here, which are 2mm x 1mm.



In this shot you can hopefully see two magnets glued to the base of the brass upright - right against the white hinge collar.



After matching magnets are embedded into the wall between the seats, they keep the restraints in the 'up' position.



..and here they are fully down.



Of course I had to wire them up and see how it looked.



Not too shabby! On to painting next, then I'll add in some troops, put the roof on and we'll see how it all looks together.

This just Keeps getting Better and Better.

The HIYA APC is Awesome But You Have taken the Cake with this. Plus your Not even FINISHED yet! lol

The HIYA does need some sort of Lighting for the 8 seated compartment as it is very Dark with Turret roof up.

Light up securing bars. Out friggin Standing.

_________________
What ya gonna do when I TECKNO HUG Youuuuu!!



Pvt.
STEAD,J "TECKNO VIKING"
A06/TQ1.0.22140E1

Skype: ulthur1

Thanks Teckno Viking! If you need any tips on lighting for the Hiya APC, hit me up - I'd be happy to advise.

That would be Awesome. Thanks for the offer. Will drop you a pm on that soon.

Toying on getting the December release HIYA APC too with the Green colour and add on Flame effects. Make that one the Film Marines transport and this one I have now, a custom piece to experiment upon.

_________________
What ya gonna do when I TECKNO HUG Youuuuu!!



Pvt.
STEAD,J "TECKNO VIKING"
A06/TQ1.0.22140E1

Skype: ulthur1

We're back. I've finally got some time to come back to this build and I've started with a fairly stress-free task - spraying up the main chassis exterior with Tamiya Olive Drab TS-28 in the rattle can.

First up is of course to strip all the other parts off.



Then we're off to the shed to spray - luckily there's very little wind today.



Now it's back on the bench and getting everything put back.



That's looking good. I'm touching up some parts of the surface where I've filled gaps etc.



Next up is ordering micro slide switches for the battery packs - the existing ones are not reliable, and sorting out the wiring loom before I start dressing/painting the interior.

I’m completely in awe of this build, so close to the finish line now!!

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AKA: Simon

Thank you 88reaper88 yes, we're nearly there. I just hope I get enough time to finish it sooner rather than later.

My daughter got married two weeks ago so I've been helping prep for that for a while. It was a fabulous wedding and the hard work setting it up paid off - it went without a hitch. Now I've got some time for hobbies again.

While figuring out how to wire all this stuff together I found these little connectors from an electronics kit. They're perfect for joining the lighting wiring between different sections of the build.



There will be two loops running throughout the APC, one for interior lighting, one for the exterior. I'll also have another switch somewhere for the main searchlight on top. I checked the exterior loop first.



..then the interior which is just the dashboard for now but will have an overhead red cabin light too.



Another task I've been putting off is flooring panels. I recently got a 3d printer upgrade and have only just got the settings dialled in so I'll be printing these out.



I've measured the three floor panels and tested paper versions for fit.



I'll have a go at printing them out and update with progress.

So, on to 3d printing. Here I've given the first print a coat of Olive Drab, a pin wash with black ink, then a light dry-brush with a sand/soil base.



Fits nice! The white section on the left is one of the paper templates.



I'm happy with the colour of this so I'll do the rest the same - maybe add some chipping wear later. I'll also finalise the paint and detail finish of a lot of the other interior fitments.



Of course not everything goes to plan and I promised, you'll get the whole journey - warts and all.



This first print wasn't going well. It's either the bed heating that's too low/high and/or damp filament (PLA). Anyway, I swapped to another filament reel and all was well for the second print.

Just a quick update while I take a break. I've finally got round to creating the last 2 pieces of roof-line (the white panels). I worked out how I can use them to help attach the front cabin to the chassis. Dremel sanding drum to the rescue.





I may add another update today - I've finished up the other 2 floor grates and made a decision on the interior colour - Tamiya Field Grey. I started to paint some elements and the uniform colour is tying them all together very well.

Just amazing man. Congratulations to your daughter as well!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Thank you for those kind words Retrogarde. My daughter and her hubby have been dating for a few years and make a lovely couple.





The interior looks a lot more cohesive now and I'm glad to be rid of that 'pea green' colour. I'll be adding more detail throughout all of this later on. I'll add some satin and gloss varnishes where appropriate too.

I had an issue with how I was trying to attach the front cabin. The method I was constructing just wasn't strong enough mechanically. So, I worked on an alternative using brass rod which, seems to be holding up really well.



Those two little brass pins sticking out of the side just ahead of the wheel are the key.





They extend inside and hook onto...



These hooks which will be glued into the chassis tomorrow.



The earlier method I tried relied on strips of styrene and interlocking tabs to hold the front on which just wasn't going to work.

I'll snip the pins flush on the outside and re-do those last (white) bits of roof.

Man, that front cockpit looks amazing, and the tires look great!!

Well done!!

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"I'm working on it ... "

Thank you Red_2. I'm hoping to be back to this build before too long.

I had some time, no, let me re-phrase that, I MADE some time to work on this over last weekend. I needed some therapy after the first days back at college. I bought some Tamiya semi-gloss clear to add some specular notes to the inside and outside of the APC where needed - since the acrylics I'm using are all flat finishes. I tried it on the seat cushions on the driver's chair and added some wear/dirt too.

Excuse the crappy lighting - it looks a lot better in person.



I've put off routing the wiring for the lights. Don't really know why, it's just not something I've ever done before. I made a start today and worked out where to route the wires.



I'll add in-scale cable retention clips and such, route them cleanly and paint them up properly.



There'll be two battery boxes, one on each side - you can see one just resting in the top of it's housing. One for the exterior lights, and one for the interior cabin.

Wow! Truly impressive!

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PFC Mike Rizzuto MVM
USS Blackhawk
3rd Batt 12th Regt

Thank you very much HK! I get a little blind sometimes to just how far this build has come from that first cardboard mock-up.

I did a little more today - I broke out the airbrush and gave some of the interior walls (the sections that will be visible) a coat of Tamiya Field Grey. As I've said previously, that's what I've decided to use for the general interior. It's lighter than many of the alternatives I found without being too different from what appears on screen.



Oh - I'd be grateful if anyone can tell me if there's a Tamiya bottle colour to match the TS-28 Olive Drab 2 spray-can. If I'm just touching up the exterior I'd rather be using a brush / the airbrush. Those rattle cans are expensive!

I've just started a Youtube channel for my builds. At the moment, of course, 'Skiffy Maker' only has one video - a walk through of the APC build.

https://youtu.be/s-VYkhCAGLk

The console that Gorman sits at has some complex lighting going on. In order to give an impression of that, I built a foil-backed lighting trough under the desk with 2 large LEDs.



I 3d printed keyboards in a mix of regular grey resin and clear resin. The clear ones rest on drilled out desk sections and will get light-blocking paint in some areas. There are also some clear parts added from the bits box. I'll drill some small holes to drop fibre into as well.

I printed out scale versions of the console screens and glued them into their frames. They could be better but will do until I get around to the revisiting / snagging stage later.





I know that the driver's position is often seen lit in red so I added a shaved LED to that, wrapped in foil to (hopefully) direct the beam forward onto the driver's face.



I want to shoot another video featuring all the lighting as it stands presently but ran out of time today.

Oh yeah that’s looking so lush!